Israel to decide on ceasefire as US says deal 'close'

Israel's security cabinet is preparing to decide whether to accept a proposed ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah, an official has said, as the White House announced it believed a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon was near.

The United States, European Union and United Nations have all pushed in recent days for a truce in the long-running hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which flared into all-out war in late September.

With truce talk intensifying, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people, mostly in the south.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official told AFP the security cabinet "will decide tomorrow evening on the ceasefire deal".

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed optimism over the prospects for a truce but said talks were ongoing.

"We believe we've reached this point where we're close," he told reporters, adding "we're not there yet".

The United States has repeatedly voiced optimism over talks on reaching a truce in the Gaza war this year but Israel is still fighting Hamas militants there even as it battles on the second front in Lebanon.

France, which alongside Washington has spearheaded efforts towards a Lebanon truce, reported "significant progress" in ceasefire talks. The French presidency urged Israel and Hezbollah to "seize this opportunity".

Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of nations, voiced "optimism" about a Lebanon ceasefire.

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The US news site Axios had previously reported the parties were nearing an agreement that would involve a 60-day transition period in which the Israeli army would pull back, the Lebanese army would redeploy near the border and Iran-backed Hezbollah would withdraw its heavy weapons north of the Litani River.

The draft agreement also provides for the establishment of a US-led committee to oversee implementation, as well as US assurances that Israel can take action against imminent threats if the Lebanese military does not, according to Axios.

News of the security cabinet meeting came as the Israeli military said it carried out a wave of strikes, including on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly bombed since late September when it escalated its air campaign in Lebanon.

The latest strikes hit around two dozen Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in one hour, the military said.

A statement said "command centres, and intelligence control and collection centres, where Hezbollah commanders and operatives were located", were targeted.

The strikes followed intense Hezbollah fire over the weekend, including some attacks deep into Israel.

Recent days have seen rising calls to end the fighting in Lebanon, with a senior UN official urging "the parties to accept a ceasefire".

In Beirut yesterday, top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate truce, days after US envoy Amos Hochstein said a deal was "within our grasp".

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to endorse a US ceasefire proposal.

Asked in New York about the possible ceasefire agreement, Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said "we are moving forward on this front", adding that the cabinet would meet soon to discuss it.

The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah. The group said it was acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Lebanon says at least 3,768 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them in the past few weeks.

On the Israeli side, the Lebanon hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

The initial exchanges of fire forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes, and Israeli officials have said they are fighting so the residents can return safely.

Some northern residents expressed fears as to whether that was possible under a ceasefire.

"In my opinion, it would be a serious mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah has not been completely eliminated," said Maryam Younnes, 29, an Israeli-Lebanese student from Maalot-Tarshiha.

"It would be a mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah still has weapons."

Dorit Sison, 51, a teacher displaced from Shlomi, said: "I don't want a ceasefire, because if they do it along the lines that they've announced, we'll be in the same place in five years."

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned on X that reaching a Lebanon ceasefire deal would be a "historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah".

Ben Gvir has repeatedly threatened to bring down the government if it agrees to a truce deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip or Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Efforts this year by mediators to secure a truce and hostage-release deal in the Gaza war have failed. Qatar early this month said it was suspending its mediation role until the warring sides showed "seriousness".

With an intensive Israeli military operation in besieged north Gaza in its 50th day, remaining residents are left "scavenging among the rubble" for food, Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, told AFP.

Such scavenging puts Gazans at risk of coming into contact with unexploded and unused ordnance that can be found in many populated areas of the territory, the Danish Refugee Council said in a report.

Lebanon condemns attacks on UN peacekeeping mission

Meanwhile, Lebanon has condemned attacks on the United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) stationed in its south, including last week's rocket strike in which four Italian soldiers were injured.

The 10,000-strong multi-national UNIFIL mission is monitoring hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel, an area hit by fierce clashes between the Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign across the border against Hezbollah at the end of September, UNIFIL soldiers have suffered several attacks coming from both sides.

"Lebanon strongly condemns any attack on UNIFIL and calls on all sides to respect the safety, security of the troops and their premises," Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said during a conference in Rome.

Mr Bou Habib spoke before attending a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Anagni, southeast of Rome, along with other colleagues from the Middle East, which was set to discuss conflicts in the region.

Mr Bou Habib added: "Lebanon condemns recent attacks on the Italian contingent and deplores such unjustified hostilities".

Italy said Hezbollah was likely responsible for the attack carried out on Friday against its troops in UNIFIL.

Lebanon's foreign minister called for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

"Lebanon is ready to fulfil its obligations stipulated in the above-mentioned resolution," Mr Bou Habib said.

"This literally means and I quote: 'There will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon'".

Hezbollah, militarily more powerful than Lebanon's regular army, has said it is defending the country from Israeli aggression.

It vows to keep fighting and said it will not lay down arms or allow Israel to achieve political gains on the back of the war.